Post the SC judgment, like Dhillon's son, the South Asian gay community has been galvanised many fold.
Rakesh Modi, chairman of Trikone, is mobilising the protest against Prop 8 as he travels from San Francisco to LA to distribute flyers and spread awareness.
He says, "Desi same sex couples must be given equal rights. We're not asking for same sex marriages to be recognised in our temples or mosques or gurudwaras. Same sex marriage in no way takes away any rights of, or harms or threatens the values of, our desi community. But Prop 8, if passed, will take away our basic rights of protecting our families. That's why Trikone strongly opposes Prop 8, which affects our South Asian community as much as any other."
Founded in 1986, Trikone is a support group for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people of South Asian descent.
According to the 2000 census, the total number of same sex couples in California is 92,138. According to analysis of data from the 2000 US census, there are over 13,000 Asian and Pacific Islanders among same-sex couples in California, more than in any other state.
However, a recent poll found that 57 percent of Asian-Americans likely to vote in the November 4 election oppose Proposition 8, which would reverse the California supreme court ruling. Only 32 percent planned to vote 'yes', and 11 per cent remained undecided.
The California survey was part of a groundbreaking national poll released recently by researchers at the University of California-Berkeley, UC-Riverside, the University of Southern California and Rutgers University. The data was strictly from California, where one-third of all Asian-Americans live.
Also read: Tamil Nadu's first homosexual society
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